Sales of previously built homes slipped in November to their lowest level in six months as the supply of properties remained tight, an unexpected setback in what has shaped up to be a disappointing year for the housing market.

A Christmas Eve treat to see 91-year-old Will Cox of Quincy be the officiant and solemnize the wedding Wednesday evening of his son, Michael Cox, 67, and Joanne Bonadio, 65, in Quincy, at the home of Joe and Karen Cox in Adams Shore.

Every one of us has been asked by a child, at one time or another, if there really is a Santa Claus. No better answer has ever been given than that of Francis Church, an editorial writer for the New York Sun, to eight-year-old Virginia...